Lewis Hamilton has admitted Nico Rosberg was simply faster during Spanish Grand Prix qualifying after the pair locked out the front row of the grid.

Hamilton was 0.264s off the pace of his Mercedes team-mate in the final session of qualifying and will start from second on the grid. Hamilton had only one run in Q3 compared to Rosberg, but said he was simply outpaced.

"Today I didn't have a second option set at the end that I think would have helped a little bit. But I think Nico was just quicker today."

He also conceded that Mercedes would have a tough race with tyre degradation playing a major part in Sunday's race.

"Congratulations to Nico, he did a great job. But also I'm really happy for the team and this is down to the great work everyone is doing at the factory," he said. I'm very proud to be able to get a front row for the team, but as Nico says, we have to approach it with caution because tomorrow is going to be tough."